Invariably when discussing religion and politics, separationists invoke the specter of “religious war” as their argumentative coup de grâce. They're usually already turning away looking for worthier interlocutors when I respond I'll accept their measure: blood will be the standard by which we judge the case for separation.
It is a testament to the devastating scar left on European consciousness by the Thirty Years War that, even today, the experience is taken almost singularly to prove the case for separation. While the experience may have warranted a belief in separation in the centuries immediately after the War—and we can argue about that – almost four centuries have intervened since the War. Perhaps the intervening centuries provide us additional evidence. Indeed, while the 19th century experience seems pertinent, it is militantly secular, anti-religious ideologies of the 20th Century—communism and fascism most notably—that gave rise to a bloody century if there ever was one.
At this point separationists typically respond with a precious rejoinder, something like, “Well, those are not the type of secular governments I mean.” It is a point I'm happy to concede, as long as I'm allowed the same prerogative. Namely, to distance myself from ostensibly religious regimes that do not, in fact, reflect true religious principles. After all, if the separationist need not treat secularism as a generic, then surely the religionist need not be saddled with answering generically for any regime that pastes a religious label on itself. (Does anyone think democrats really need to account for the behavior of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea?)
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